Love in a Time of War
by fanwriter1245
Summary: When Anna meets the infamous Thomas Berger at the Bismarck, her life takes a new turn for the better. She's much happier with him and all the other boys and feelings begin to develop. But when he becomes an HJ, promises will be broken, feelings will be hurt, and lives will be forever changed. ThomasxOC, PeterxOC brother/sister relationship
1. Thomas Berger

Life was tough in the 40's. Media propaganda all told people how to live and think, Nazis were on the rise, and war broke out with many people looking up to Hitler.

Anna was not one of those people.

She never said it aloud for fear of incurring the wrath of her fellow peers, or worse, the HJ, but she despised Hitler. She felt like he was blaming everything going wrong on one religious group. Sadly, she never defended Jews because of her fears, but she would never, ever hurt one either.

Her brother had fallen in love with a Jewish woman some years ago. She had been so kind and so beautiful and their love was a rare but true one. Then one day, he was found out and was taken away from them. She could still hear her mother's screams as his ashes were delivered to them in a box. Her mother had gone into depression and stopped eating and later died from malnutrition.

After losing both her brother and mother, Anna rarely left her home, afraid that she would end with a similar fate.

That all changed when her friend, Elaine, went to her house and told her to get dressed because they were going to the Bismarck. Anna tried to get out of it, but Elaine was persistent. She wanted to cheer Anna up and told her she understood what she was going through because she had lost her father to the Nazis. At that, Anna relented and Elaine helped her choose a dress to wear.

* * *

Thomas Berger was your average teenager. He had his group of close friends, he loved to swing dance, he desperately needed a haircut, he loved talking about and flirting with girls, and his personality was…well, indescribable to say the least.

As often as he could, he and his friends Peter, Arvid, and Otto would go out swing dancing at the Bismarck and try to pick up girls along the way.

Currently, all the boys were sitting at their table taking a break from dancing. Most of them were pouring sweat from the intensity of their dances, but so was everyone else in the place so it didn't really matter.

Thomas's eyes fell to the door and he caught sight of a girl. A gorgeous girl at that. As he watched her, it seemed like she was walking through the door in slow motion. Her brown hair was half tied up while the rest of it was nearly flat reaching to the middle of her back. As she turned, it glided over her shoulder in one smooth perfect motion. She was smiling, but her smile was clearly not a completely real one. It was still so beautiful that he could only imagine what a real smile looked like.

"Hey, Thomas," Peter said, trying to keep in his laughter. "Put your eyes back in your head, why don't you?"

Thomas didn't respond, still keeping his eye on the girl. She and her friend sat down at a table not too far from theirs. They talked for a little while as the girl looked around her in awe. It must've been her first time.

Without thinking about it, he went over to the table and extended his hand to her. "Care to dance?"

She looked at him with a bashful smile. "I don't know how to do all of those moves," she said gesturing to the dance floor where couples were swing dancing wildly.

"It's easy. I'll show you."

She looked at her friend, who nodded back at her. Then she timidly took Thomas's awaiting hand and he led her to the dance floor.

Thomas took both of her hands in his. "Just follow my lead," he told her. He began to lead her in a very simple swing dance, and she picked it up pretty fast. There was a problem, though. She was holding back. "Let it go," Thomas said in her ear. "No one cares what you do." Anna looked at the boy she had just met. She had to admit that he was really attractive, besides the whole long hair situation he had going on. At his words, she slowly began to pick up her step.

"There ya go!" Thomas praised. Anna gave him another shy smile as he continued to help her through the dance. "Give it a little more!" She obeyed his request and before she knew it, she was dancing just as wildly as the other couples. And for the first time in who knows how long, Anna was laughing. Her smile, her real smile, was a thousand times better than Thomas had imagined, and it took years off her young face.

Before long, Anna found herself yearning for sleep. She had danced for hours and was absolutely exhausted.

"Thank you for an amazing night," Anna said to the boy she had danced with all night. "I guess I should be getting back home."

"I'll walk you," Thomas said.

"Oh, no, that's okay. My friend Elaine and I are walking back together."

"If I saw correctly, your friend Elaine left earlier with Vincent."

Sure enough, when Anna looked around, Elaine was not in sight. "I'll kill her," she mumbled.

Thomas laughed. "No worries. She asked me earlier if I would take you home."

Anna shook her head and allowed Thomas to escort her back to her house.

"So, uh, you come to the Bismarck often?" Thomas asked, making conversation.

"No, that was my first time. Elaine forced me to go tonight. I haven't been exactly…open to company as of late."

"Oh? How come?"

"It's…complicated," was all Anna said.

"Well, you're certainly a fast learner. I've never seen someone pick up something as difficult as swing so fast. If you keep dancing like that, you'll be a natural in no time."

Anna giggled as she felt a blush crawl up to her face. "Thanks. I had a good teacher."

"Aw, shucks!"

Anna laughed harder at his words. By that time, they reached Anna's front door. "Thanks for walking me."

"Anything to help such a fine lady like yourself," Thomas said with a small bow.

Anna giggled again. "I didn't catch your name."

"Thomas. Thomas Berger."

"Lovely to meet you, Thomas Berger. I'm Anna Hensley."

"Pleasure, Miss Hensley."

* * *

While Anna walked through school the next day, Thomas came up to her and fell into step beside her.

"Hey, Anna. You, me, Bismarck tomorrow night."

"Nice to see you too," Anna laughed. "I don't know if my father will let me."

"He let you last night."

"He wasn't exactly…up for not letting me go. And besides it was Elaine who convinced me and ever since she met Vincent, I can't get three words out of her."

"I'll pick you up at your house at 6:30."

Thomas walked away from her despite her protests echoing behind him.

Sure enough, the next night at almost exactly 6:30, Thomas showed up at Anna's front door. She had decided to don a slimming turquoise dress that she could dance in.

"My lady," Thomas said offering her his arm.

She giggled as she gingerly took it and they walked to the Bismarck together. Once there, Thomas found his usual crew and walked her over to them.

"Hey, fellas! There's someone I want you to meet!" All the boys at the table looked at her and she felt quite small under their gazes. "Anna, this is Otto and Arvid. They make some of the best music in the country. And this here is my partner in crime, Peter Müller," he introduced as he slung his arm around Peter's shoulders. "And gents, this here is Miss Anna Hensley."

"Nice to meet you," Anna said shyly. Anna was never really good at meeting people. Her brother had been the one to help her get acquainted with friends and ever since his death, she found it harder and harder to make new ones.

"So you're the girl who caught his eye," Peter laughed.

Anna's face turned a very beet red at his words and Thomas proceeded to hit his friend on the back of the head.

"It takes a lot for Thomas to actually like like a girl," Arvid added. "You must really be something else."

"He certainly picked a winner! You're gorgeous!" Otto exclaimed.

Anna blushed again at all of their words, and let out a small laugh.

"Come on, Anna," Thomas said. "Let's dance."

Anna giggled again as he led her once more out onto the dance floor. He showed her some new steps and once again, she picked them up fairly easily. It was even better than the first time she had gone dancing.

"Hey, Peter!" Thomas called. "Let's show her what we got!"

Peter and Thomas went out to the middle of the floor and started doing a dance together that they must have rehearsed several times over. Anna couldn't help but smile at their obvious friendship. It reminded her a lot of what she used to have with her brother. Thomas broke off the dance and grabbed Anna and began to dance with her again while Peter grabbed a girl from the audience. All four of them began swing dancing wildly, and Anna completely forgot that she was supposed to be shy.


	2. Bonding

"What do you say we go out for lunch Saturday?" Thomas asked her at school.

Anna blushed. "Why do you keep asking me places?"

"You're a pretty girl. Just can't help myself."

She sighed. "Alright, fine, I will let you take me out to lunch."

"See ya then!" he said as he bounded off. Anna let a small laugh escape from her lips. Suddenly, she felt herself whirled around and came face-to-face with Elaine.

"What were you doing talking to Thomas Berger?" she squealed.

"Hello to you too," Anna laughed. "He wants to take me out to lunch this weekend."

"You mean to tell me that you caught Thomas Berger's eye?"

"You were there when he asked me to dance!"

"Well, yeah, but Thomas always asks different girls to dance. It's something huge when he keeps talking to them outside of the Bismarck!"

"We went dancing again the other day. I met all of his friends. They were really nice too."

"He introduced you to his posse? Do you realize how serious this is?"

"Um…no…"

"If he's asking you to go dancing with him and to lunch, then he's interested in you. Trust me." Elaine squealed again. "I'm so happy for you! See, aren't you glad I took you out of your house last week?"

"Sort of. You did end up ditching me for Vincent."

"Psh, I only did that because I saw how happy you were with Thomas. You deserved to be happy and so I let him take you home so you could spend more time with him. I mean, I hadn't seen you smile like that in a really long time. It was nice to see you in such high spirits again."

Anna realized that Elaine was right. That first night with Thomas had been the first time since her brother's death that she didn't hate her life. And now with him continually flirting with her, it seemed like it was only going to go uphill.

* * *

Lunch with Thomas proved to be almost as fun as going dancing with him. He made her laugh on more than one occasion until her stomach hurt and she couldn't eat anymore.

He then took her to Arvid's apartment, where apparently all the guys got together all the time. All the boys were happy to see her again.

"Hey, Anna!" Arvid said. "Can you name this hit?"

Anna blushed a little and refused to meet anyone's eyes. "No…I can't."

"That's okay," Peter said quickly. "Everyone's gotta start somewhere!" She smiled at his attempts to help her feel less intimidated.

Arvid shared some records with her, and they all "tutored" her in swing music.

"The best hits are by Benny Goodman," Arvid explained. "Coming in next is Django Reinhardt. And of course, you can't beat Duke Ellington."

He played a couple of songs on his guitar for her, and Anna watched his fingers move from chord to chord at a dizzying speed. It was fascinating to watch him play so effortlessly.

She was pretty uncomfortable at first, but after a while, she began to warm up to their kindness towards her.

"Okay, Anna," Arvid said after nearly three weeks of teaching her swing music. "Recognize this one?" He put a record on the player and let the music flow around them.

"Um," Anna said as she listened to it. "Is it…'Don't Be That Way'?"

"By?"

"Um…Benny…Goodman?"

All the boys cheered at her correct answer. "We'll make a hepcat out of you yet!" Peter praised.

Anna laughed at her newfound friends. It had been a while since she had been this happy.

Thomas began bringing her with him on all his outings with his friends, and she sort of indirectly became one of them. As time went on, her shyness got less and less prominent. She felt comfortable with the boys and formed a good relationship with all of them, especially Peter. She found that he was sort of filling the missing hole her brother had left. She could always find solace in Peter when she had a rough day. Most of the time, she went to Thomas, but there were times when she wanted to talk to Peter and receive more unbiased advice and comfort.

It did not escape Peter and Thomas's notice that she was slowly coming out of the shell she had secluded herself into. She smiled a lot more than she used to and laughed a lot more as well. It seemed like a two-ton weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she was now free to be herself.

"Anna!" Peter called. He fell into step beside her. "My mother insists on having you over for dinner tonight. She wants to meet the girl who has charmed over Thomas's heart."

Anna let out a small laugh. "I'd be happy to. From what you've told me, she sounds like a very nice woman."

That night, Anna showed up in a casual dress in order to appear presentable. She lightly knocked on the door, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt.

"Oh, you must be Anna," the woman who answered the door said with a smile. "Peter's talked so much about you. Please, come in."

Anna smiled and stepped inside the door. She liked this woman.

"I'm Peter's mother. And this is my other son, Willi."

"Hi!" the little boy next to her said happily. Anna politely shook his hand and then they all sat down to eat at the table.

"Thank you for agreeing to eat with us," his mother said as she passed around the dishes. "It's so nice to have good company."

"Thank you for the invitation. I haven't had dinner outside of my house in quite a long time."

For a good bit of time, Peter's mother politely asked questions about Anna's life, and she told as much as she allowed herself to. Peter and Willi were as talkative as ever, and Anna had never felt so at home.

* * *

Because Anna had had dinner at Peter's house, Thomas felt compelled for her to eat over at his own house. So sure enough, Anna found herself sitting to dinner with Thomas's family. Although she really cared for Thomas, his family was another matter. She loved his mother, but she could not say the same for his father. The entire time she ate, she felt like the man was judging her, like she wasn't good enough for his son. Or she was too good for him. It was clear Thomas noticed she felt rather uncomfortable because the second he could, he stood up and offered to escort her home.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as they walked down the sidewalk. "I should've known that dinner with my folks wouldn't be as good as with Peter's mom."

Anna smiled at him pitifully. "It wasn't _too_ bad."

"No need to try to make me feel better. I know it wasn't good. My father never really thought I would ever follow in his footsteps. He hates swing more than anything, and is about ready to disown me for going to all those parties."

"Well, your mother was very sweet."

Thomas laughed. "Moms usually are."

They made it to her door and said their good-byes. Before he left, Thomas placed a soft kiss to her cheek. Anna's face turned beet red as she walked inside the door to her home.


	3. HJs Appear

After a time, Anna felt comfortable enough to tell Peter and Thomas what happened with her brother and mother. Tears were shed by Anna as the loss was still quite fresh in her mind, but both of the boys were there to comfort her, and felt honored that she was willing to tell them her story.

Thomas had a bit of a temper and Anna quickly learned how to control it. He never lost it with her, but every now and again, she had to calm him down when he got frustrated with other people.

There was a day when Anna reflected on who she had become since she met Thomas. She was no longer that depressed little girl who didn't talk to anyone. When she looked in the mirror, she didn't recognize the girl staring back at her. In fact, every day now, she surprised herself when she saw how bold she had gotten. It was a nice change and she had Elaine and Thomas to thank for it.

She and Thomas ended up going to the Bismarck together every chance they got. It was true they fancied each other, but neither was willing to make the first move to make them official.

She walked up to her group of boys at school and they quickly put away some pictures they had in their hands.

"What were those?" she asked.

"Uh, nothing," Peter said quickly.

She let it go because honestly, she had a feeling she really didn't want to know what they were.

"Ooh, look what we have here!" Thomas said. They all turned to find Peter's love interest, Evey, about to head out with some of her other girlfriends. "Have you talked with her yet?"

"Who says I'm interested?" Peter answered.

"Your tongue was on the floor." As the girls walked by, Thomas called out, "Didn't we see you pigeons at the Café Bismarck the other night?"

"We wouldn't be caught dead there," Evey answered sharply.

"Especially not with you, Thomas Berger," her friend said.

"Oh?" Anna said with anger in her voice. "And what's so wrong with Thomas Berger?"

Thomas pulled her back gently with a smirk on his face. "Hey, now it's alright, baby. Not everyone loves me as much as you do."

She gave him a playful smirk back and they followed the other girls out.

"What's so great about it?" Evey asked.

"Well, it was the swingiest party ever, right, Anna?"

"Swingiest!"

"Super-mergentroid!" Peter added.

"Super what?" Evey asked.

"Come on, Evey! They talk gibberish!" Evey's other friend said.

"No, it's a secret language we're not allowed to know. It's all too secret."

They began to walk away before Peter shouted, "You!" The group turned to look at him and Peter started singing, "Go to my head," then the rest of the group, including Anna, joined in with him, "and you linger like a haunting refrain! And I find you spinnin' round in my brain!" Thomas took Anna and spun her in a little circle to suit the lyrics. She laughed and playfully pushed him away from her.

* * *

It was another night when Thomas so graciously escorted Anna to another dance at the Bismarck. They watched in awe as Arvid gracefully played the guitar in a certain way that no one could ever hope to copy. The people formed a circle and different couples went to the center to show off their dancing skills.

Anna was not surprised when Thomas and Peter decided to go into the middle together and start dancing wildly. Halfway through their dance, Thomas grabbed Anna and pulled her into the center with them. The two boys flung her around as she laughed and danced with them.

Suddenly, the music changed from a classy swing to a boring polka. Some of the HJ had decided to crash their party. Thomas took Anna's hand and they all went over to sit at a table together, none of them having any interest in doing a polka.

"Murderistic, Herr Hitman!" Thomas said to Arvid as they all took their seats.

"Thanks," Arvid muttered, obviously not happy about his song being interrupted.

"Look at those pansies," Thomas remarked as he looked at the HJ's.

"They're all training for the Gestapo," Peter said.

"How'd they know we were going to be here tonight?" Arvid asked.

"Probably beat it out of some swing kid," Thomas answered angrily.

"That's Emil!" Peter exclaimed.

"Where?" Otto asked.

The group looked at the line of boys and sure enough, there was their old swing friend.

"So it's true!" Thomas said.

"He was probably forced into it," Arvid said in an attempt to help their friend. "It is compulsory after all."

"Oh, some excuse. Those creeps are too busy marching up and down all night to keep track."

"Arvid's right," Peter agreed. "Emil couldn't be a traitor. He was the original hepcat!"

"No," Arvid muttered. "No one who likes swing can become a Nazi."

Thomas made some mocking marching movements as he stuck his tongue out which made Anna laugh so hard, she had tears in her eyes and her stomach cramped.

"Aw, who needs him anyway?" Thomas said as the HJ's departed. "Come on, let's have some fun."

He took Anna's hand and pulled her back up onto the dance floor as the music changed back to swing since the HJs had left. Though she enjoyed the dance like always, she couldn't get the picture of Emil in an HJ uniform out of her head.

After hours more of vigorous dancing, Anna felt like she was going to collapse. Thomas once again offered to walk her home, if anything to make sure she didn't pass out on the way because she looked exhausted.

It didn't take Thomas long to see that Anna was walking rather slowly. At the rate she was going, they wouldn't make it home for another thirty minutes. So he scooped her up in his arms and began to carry her down the sidewalk. She wanted to protest, but she was so tired, she couldn't do or say anything. Her head slumped against his shoulder as she relaxed in his arms. In fact, she was so content, she ended up falling asleep in his embrace.

Thomas made it to her house and managed to open the door with Anna still in his arms. Luckily for him, her father was passed out on the couch from drinking too much again. He quietly carried her to her room and placed her down on the bed. She stirred a little bit but did not awake. Thomas chuckled lightly at the beautiful girl. Even in her sleep, she was utterly gorgeous.

He placed a small kiss on her forehead.

"Good night, Miss Hensley. Thanks for another incredible evening of dancing."

He closed her door and snuck back out. On the walk back to his own home, he felt lighter than air as if nothing could bring him down. There was a spring in his step that he had never had before.


	4. Anna's Surprise

The next day, the whole group was gathered at Arvid's house for a little game. They would put on a record and then Arvid would guess what song it was and every technical fact associated with it.

"Keep the blindfold on!" Otto ordered.

"Blindfold's on!" Arvid answered. Otto played the record and Arvid scoffed. "I'm sorry, Otto. I grooved this platter from the first lick. 'Harlem.' Recorded September 14th, 1937. Teddy Foster, trumpet. Freddy Gardner, alto—"

"Hey!" Peter interrupted running into the room. "You guys are not gonna believe what just happened! This HJ rode by me and whistled the signal."

"What?" Thomas asked disbelievingly.

"This HJ rode by me and whistled 'It Don't Mean a Thing'."

"You're joking," Otto said.

"He must've been a hepcat. It's like Herr Hitman said. A hepcat can't be broken."

"What if he learned it from Emil?" Thomas asked. "He might have been trying to trick you into telling him where the next party is."

"Come on," Arvid muttered. "It took you a year to learn how to whistle that."

"Well, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means."

Anna rolled her eyes. These boys' banter was something else.

"Quiz time!" Peter said. "'Joint is jumping'."

"Um," Thomas laughed. "What it isn't in here: lively!" Thomas snatched the book from him as Peter smoked his cigarette. Anna had a mind to steal it from his mouth and stamp it on the ground. She had already made it clear to Thomas that she wouldn't put up with his smoking, but she had no power over the rest of them. "Can't we find something more exciting to do? I say we go down to the red-light district, make some new friends."

"Yeah, I could go for some ladies!" Otto said.

"Excuse me," Anna scoffed. "Sitting right here!" She felt rather offended that Thomas was willing to go somewhere to flirt with another woman. At the same time, she felt guilty for feeling that way because it wasn't like she and Thomas were actually a thing.

All the boys laughed at her obvious discomfort.

"Those friends cost a lot of money," Arvid said.

"I was thinking of using that dough you've got stashed away," Thomas told him.

"No, no, no. I'm saving that money for the shortwave radio. I'm not spending that on some tart."

"That's because if you paid her, you couldn't get one to go with you."

"Okay, boys. Anna is feeling quite uncomfortable with this whole conversation," Anna muttered.

"Sorry," Thomas said.

"Yeah, you're _real_ sorry!"

"He's just bored because he doesn't have any idea which platters to pick," Arvid said.

"All right, put on that blindfold," Thomas ordered.

"What?"

"Put it on."

"I say we go right into it. Come on. Come on, Thomas!" He tied the blindfold over his eyes. "Pick any record in the room. Any record."

Thomas smiled and got up to go find a record to play.

"I believe I heard a little activity in the Gene Krupa section!" Arvid laughed.

"It's too easy," Peter muttered as Thomas showed him the record he chose.

Thomas went over to the record player and attempted to play it, but the room filled with an awful scratching sound. Arvid quickly took his blindfold off.

"I'm sorry, my hand slipped," Thomas apologized.

"You did that on purpose!" Arvid shouted.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'll replace it."

"You will? From where? Alberti doesn't have anything left. I gotta go down to the docks. Besides, you have no idea what to look for!"

"I'm sorry I'm not as smart as you! The only reason you know all these hits is because you can't dance to them!"

"Thomas Berger!" Anna yelled.

Arvid looked at them all sharply before throwing the broken record on the ground, shattering it. "Get out. Get out!"

"Arvid, it was a mistake," Peter said.

"Accidents happen," Anna added. "That doesn't mean I'll let him slide for what he just said. But his hand did slip."

"Why do you always have to go along with his stupid jokes?! Is it because you love him?!" Anna blushed at his words, partially because what he said was kind of true, and partially because she hated it when people yelled at her. "Well, don't get too attached because he'll just screw up everything like he always does."

"Arvid!" Peter said admonishingly, knowing Anna had to have felt uncomfortable at his words.

Everyone began shouting over one another for a couple minutes before Thomas grabbed Anna's hand and left the place with Peter. The three of them went down to the market to try to forget that experience.

"You shouldn't have said that thing about him not being able to dance, Thomas," Peter told him.

"Why not? It's true."

"That doesn't mean you have to say it," Anna said. "He's got a hard enough time making it as it is. Do you think he wanted to be born a cripple? I'm pretty sure the answer is no. It's not his fault."

"I'm just sick of him acting like he's smarter than everybody else all the time!"

"Well, he's probably sick of you acting like you're a better dancer than everybody else all the time."

"Ooh!" Peter laughed.

Thomas grabbed Anna from behind and secured her arms tightly to her sides. "Take it back."

"No!" she laughed.

"Take it back!"

"Never!"

He finally released her and pulled her into a little side hug.

"Look at that," Peter muttered as a Nazi walked out of a bakery. "They all think they can get away with whatever they want. He stole that radio from someone they arrested. I saw him give it to this tart."

"What if we lifted it?" Thomas said. "Next time he comes in for his hot loaves, he gets the cold shoulder instead."

"Yeah, we could give it to Arvid. Pick up Benny live."

"Can you imagine the look on that little creep's face when we walk in with it?"

"What do we do?"

Thomas picked up a tomato from a little stand nearby and the next thing they knew, Anna was watching from the window as Thomas ran inside screaming, "Fraulein. Fraulein. Help me, help me, I'm bleeding! A pack of HJ's stabbed me! Help me, I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding! I don't wanna die!" He and the store clerk fell over into the closet while Anna laughed so hard, she couldn't breathe. Peter ran into the store to take the radio, but realized it was plugged into the wall and had to quickly unplug it. "I'm bleeding so badly! Wait there! Wait, please! Don't leave me!"

Peter stole the radio, but not before the clerk noticed and ran out screaming. She let out a yelp when Thomas ran past her. The three of them started laughing…until the cops started chasing them. Thomas grabbed Anna's hand and they all took off as fast as they could down the street, trying to escape the cops. He knocked down as many objects as he could to try to delay them. Thomas managed to get him and Anna into a moving truck, but Peter was slowed by the weight of the radio.

"Come on, Peter!" he shouted. "Give us your hand! Come on, they're right behind you!"

Peter tried to run, but he slipped and the radio crashed to the ground and shattered. Peter got taken away from them before their very eyes.

"Peter!" they both screamed as the truck carried them away.

They got off the truck once they were far enough away and bolted to Peter's apartment. Thomas hurriedly knocked on the door and Peter's mother answered.

"Thomas, Anna," she said with a smile. Her smile faded as she saw the panicked faces both of them wore. "What's wrong?"

* * *

The events that followed proved to be a whirlwind. But Anna was never prepared for what she saw that afternoon.

She hadn't seen Thomas or Peter all day, and she was honestly really worried about the both of them ever since Peter had been captured and Thomas did not take it well at all.

But then they came up to her as she walked out of school. And she couldn't believe her eyes. They were dressed in uniforms. HJ uniforms.

Her mouth slightly dropped open, her mind willing the sight of them to just be a dream.

"Anna, wait," Peter said gently. "Let us explain."

She took a deep breath trying to prepare herself for what he was going to say.

"When I was caught yesterday, Herr Knopp bailed me out under the condition that I join the HJ. I didn't want to, but my mother convinced me after she reminded me of what happened with my father. I couldn't put my family through that again. And Thomas only joined to help me out and be there for me. I promise, we're not like the others."

Anna took another deep breath, still disbelieving this was really happening.

"He's telling the truth, Anna," Thomas said. "I joined so that we can infiltrate. Like spies! We'll lead double lives just like them. HJ by day, swing kids by night!"

She knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but it didn't work. Peter looked at the two of them. "I'll leave you two to talk," he said as he walked away.

Anna leaned against the wall and Thomas took both of her hands and locked their fingers together. "I swear, I'm still the same old Thomas."

Anna looked up into his eyes. She silently giggled to herself, now fully realizing that both of them had finally taken care of their long hair. "Just…just promise me one thing," she said quietly.

"Anything."

"Promise you won't let all of this change you. That you'll still stay just the way you are."

"I promise." He leaned over and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. She smiled at him, but deep inside, she still felt unsure about all of this.


	5. Anna Notices a Change

Each day at the HJ, Peter and Thomas watched different videos about the Jews and learned from several officers how to fight and what to believe. They told their group what they saw, and it just made Anna all the more nervous. She didn't say it, but she was infuriated that they were being taught those horrible, untrue things.

Several days later, they heard news from Helga…

Everyone went to the hospital immediately when they received the horrid news that Arvid had been found unconscious, beaten, and bloodied on the side of the street. The first thing he saw when he awoke was the Nazi badges on Peter and Thomas's arms. Immediately, he began thrashing around in fear, but Helga, Peter, Thomas, and Anna all held his arms and managed to get him calmed down.

"It's okay!" Helga said tenderly.

"It's just us, your friends!" Anna told him.

Arvid looked at all of them then at his bandaged hand. Apparently, he had broken two fingers…irreparably.

"He said I'd never play again," Arvid muttered as he took the bandages off. "But he forgot about Django. Django Reinhardt played with two fingers. So can I. See?" There was a disturbing slice along his two fingers that made Anna squirm. "They look just like his. He didn't need these two fingers."

"Who did this to you?" Thomas asked. "Who said you'd never play again?"

Arvid looked up at them. "…Emil."

Anna thought she would explode with anger. She quickly left the room before she said or did anything she regretted.

"Anna!"

She turned around to find Thomas had followed her into the hallway.

"Are you alright?"

She looked at him with hard, steely eyes. "I will be," she growled. "If you swear to me that you will make him pay for what he's done."

* * *

"Meine Güte!" Anna exclaimed when she Thomas that evening. "What happened to you?!"

His face was all banged up, covered in bruises and cuts.

"Oh, you should've seen it, Anna!" Peter said with overwhelming enthusiasm. "It was incredible! Just wait, I'll tell you all about it when get to Arvid's!"

They all made it to Arvid's apartment and Peter began reenacting the fight between Thomas and Emil.

"Pow! Pow! Pow! Three to the stomach. Thomas won't go down. Tables turn. Right to the face! You have to see Emil!"

"Emil's face looks like it's been bent sideways," Thomas said.

"You look pretty bad yourself," Otto said.

"It was murderistic!" Peter said.

"I'm so sorry," Anna said. "I feel like this is my fault. When I wanted you to pay him back, I didn't mean nearly killing yourself in the process." Anna took some medicine and tried to apply it to the numerous cuts and bruises on his face.

"Are you kidding?" Thomas said. "I'd do it all over again if I could." He winced as Anna hit an especially tender spot.

"Sorry," she muttered.

Otto offered Peter a cigarette. "Can't," Peter responded. "They smell your breath."

Anna smiled at him cheekily. "Well at least you quitting will be one good thing that comes out of this whole mess."

Peter gave her a small laugh, fully aware she had always disapproved of his smoking.

Arvid chuckled. "Maybe we shouldn't listen to this music. They might listen to your ears."

Otto looked at Thomas. "So what's the HJ like anyway?"

"It's the stupidest thing ever," Peter groaned. "All we do is memorize the Fuehrer's period of struggle and all this other stuff."

"That sounds awful," Anna said.

"It's almost as boring as it is here!" Thomas remarked. Anna scoffed at him and gave him another one of her trademark looks that she gave him whenever he was too sarcastic for his own good.

"You don't have to be here," Arvid said as he grabbed his guitar. "Don't you have some marching to do?"

"Didn't wanna join. We had to."

"_He _had to. What's your excuse?"

"Well, I'm his friend."

"So am I. You don't see me joining."

"No, they wouldn't accept you."

"Thomas," Anna said in her reprimanding voice that warned him when he was beginning to say things he shouldn't.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come!" Arvid yelled.

Helga came through the door. "Arvid, you'll never guess what I found. I was over at Silka's house and—"

She stopped as she realized the two HJs and the HJ's sort-of-girlfriend were already in the room.

"Hi, Helga. Come on in," Arvid said.

"What's the matter? Everyone here looks sadder than a map."

"When did she become a member?" Thomas asked.

"We can let HJs and Anna in, we can let her in," Arvid answered.

"He's got a point," Anna said to him.

"What is that? I went after Emil after what he did to you, and all the thanks I get is superior remarks?"

"I never asked you to fight him!" Arvid yelled.

"You're right!" Anna said quickly. "I did. So if anyone is going to be mad at anyone, you're going to be mad at me."

"Wait a second, Arvid," Peter said. "Emil almost killed you."

"So we're even! Now we can all be friends! You're fitting right in: listening to the same songs, wearing the same clothes, getting into the same fights. It's almost like being a swing kid, isn't it? Though he never really liked the music to begin with, so I guess there's no difference."

"Thomas, don't you dare—" Anna started. She was cut off as Thomas pushed her off him and threw a matchbox at his head. Then he stood up and they went for each other. Anna and Otto tried to pull Thomas off while Peter was in the middle and Helga got Arvid.

When they pried the two boys apart, Thomas crashed down onto the sofa and Anna went back to nursing his wounds.

"What's the matter with you?" Peter shouted. "What do you want us to do, Arvid? He joined because of me. Because of me. If anyone's changed around here, it's you."

"No," Arvid said. "No, I haven't changed."

"Yes, you have. You sit in here all day, you never go out with us anymore. There's a party at the Trichter tonight."

"Arvid?" Otto said after a pause.

"No, we have to practice."

Everyone looked at each other. Anna refused to say it out loud, but she was seeing a small change in Thomas too. And she didn't like the change that was happening.

* * *

That night at the Trichter, Thomas, Anna, and Peter all walked into the place and were met with the glorious sight of a lot of swing dancers.

"Anna!" Thomas said happily. "Let's Jitterbug!"

He led her onto the dance floor and they quickly started doing one of Anna's favorite dances.

"Go, Thomas!" Peter shouted. "You're the King of Harlem!"

Anna could never stop laughing whenever she and Thomas danced together. It felt so natural. A swing line started and various couple went into the middle of the dance floor, Thomas and Anna included.

Then they found themselves forming a circle around a new couple: Peter and Evey. The two of them did some very impressive twists, jumps, and flips. Anna couldn't help but smile since she knew Peter had a thing for Evey, and it was becoming increasingly clear that she also had a thing for him.

Unfortunately, the party was crashed by some HJs. "We are closing this club!" someone shouted. "You must leave immediately! You must give your names at the door! Leave immediately!"

Thomas and Anna quickly went next to Peter and Evey.

"If we get caught in here, we're dead!" Peter said urgently.

"Come on, come on, out the back. The alley."

Thomas grabbed Anna and the four of them made it out safely to the back alley and walked away from the horrid sight behind them.

* * *

As time went on, Peter and Thomas began doing some physical training as part of their HJ duties. They relayed to her everything they did each day. Anna realized that Thomas and Emil were beginning to be close friends, and that really, really worried her. Did that mean that Thomas was going to be the next Emil? If so, she didn't know if she could spend time with Thomas anymore.

Truth be told, she missed spending time with all of the boys and Helga. They rarely got together because Peter and Thomas were always busy training. She missed Arvid and Otto, and listening to Arvid play his guitar.

Soon, Thomas proudly showed Anna a bike Emil gave him. Anna smiled, but Thomas saw right through her fake smile. After all, it was the first thing he had seen on her, so he could tell the difference between her real smile and her fake smile.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I don't know, I guess…hearing about you getting close with Emil just…worries me."

"How come? I'm allowed to have other friends, right?"

"Of course!" she answered, choosing to ignore the tone he was using. "It's just that I'm afraid he's rubbing off on you. And the next thing I know, I'm going to be hearing about you beating up some poor soul and leaving him on the street…like Emil did with Arvid."

Thomas took her hand in his. "Anna Hensley, you worry too much. I'm not going to beat up people like Emil did. Okay? Now what else is bugging you?"

She gave him a small smile. "I miss our old group. You, me, Peter, Otto, Helga, and Arvid. We haven't gotten together in ages."

"You know Peter and I are busy. Besides, Arvid doesn't wanna see us. He's angry about us joining the HJ. You know, he just sees everything backwards."

"Or maybe he sees everything clearer than you do."

"Nah. He looks about things all wrong. It's people like Peter and I who change the world."

Anna rolled her eyes, but she did end up giving him a real smile. He still had the same personality. But there was a difference. She just refused to fully admit it.


	6. Arvid's Death

After what seemed like far too long, the usual group headed over to a little café to hear some swing music. Unfortunately, there was no dancing much to everyone's dismay.

Despite Arvid's injury, he still played the guitar with incredible skill.

"He's his old self again!" Peter remarked.

"He's super-mergentroid!" Helga said. "But he still can't play ascending octaves."

Everyone cheered as he and Otto and a couple other instrumentalists finished their song. Anna really wanted to start dancing, but she knew doing so would just get everyone in trouble.

"Hey, flyboy!" Thomas said to the officers sitting at a nearby table. "Get into any dogfights yet?"

"No, but we'll get our chance soon enough," one answered.

"Can you imagine that? Up there just flying around?" he said to his fellow companions.

"I'd get dizzy!" Helga laughed.

"Peter, how about it?"

"Wait a minute…" Peter muttered. They looked to the stage and saw Arvid conversing with someone who must've worked at the place. The conversation got heated fast as Arvid stormed back to their table.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" the officer asked Arvid. "We liked your music. We just wanted to hear one good German song."

"There are no more German songs," Arvid said sharply. "Only Nazi songs!"

"Let's just go, Arvid!" Helga said quickly.

"Wait a second!" the other officer ordered.

"You wanna hear a song for the fatherland?" Arvid handed the man his guitar. "Play it yourself. Take it. Take it!" The officer hesitantly took the guitar from Arvid's hands. Arvid turned around to find the whole place staring at him. "What's the matter with all of you? Can't you see what's happening? Are you afraid to look? We are murdering Austrians. Next it will be the Czechs, and then the Poles, not to mention the gypsies and the Jews! It's unmentionable! You think…that just because you're not doing it yourself that you're not a part of it? Well I'm sick and tired of doing my part! And now you want to hear a song. You need someone to lift your morale! Well, I won't! I won't."

Arvid quickly grabbed his things and left the place as fast as he could. Helga, Peter, Evey, and Anna all went after him.

"Herr Hitman!" Peter called. "Wait up! Djangoman!"

"Arvid! My name is Arvid! 'Djangoman,' 'Herr Hitman,' how could I have been such an idiot?"

"What do you mean?" Helga asked nicely. "You've been practicing for tonight for weeks."

"He only wanted to hear one song," Peter said.

"It's not just one song or that song!" Arvid cried. "Don't you see? Anytime you go along with them, any time you try to help them, it just makes it easier."

"Arvid!" Thomas's voice rang out. "What is the matter with you?"

"Thomas…" Anna said in her warning voice.

"What was that speech all about, the Jews and the gypsies? What about the cripples and the retards? You know, that's who you belong with!"

"Thomas!" Anna shouted.

Arvid looked at him hardly. "I would rather belong to anyone, _anyone,_ than belong to the Nazis like you do!"

"Yeah, well, that's because you've got everything backwards. You always said I was the stupid one. Nazis go anywhere they want, do anything they please. Everybody gets out of our way! So who's the smart one, eh, Djangoman? You know, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about anybody but myself because we're coming after you next."

"Thomas…" Anna said, feeling her heart break.

"Quiz time," Arvid said sharply. "'Got your glasses on'."

"What?"

"It means you don't know who your friends are."

Arvid put on his hat and walked away with Helga.

"I can't believe I used to feel sorry for that traitor," Thomas said.

"Thomas. Berger," Anna said, trying to keep her anger in check. "What the heck was that? Did you even hear yourself?"

"What's gotten into you?" Peter asked.

"What's gotten into me?" Thomas asked astounded.

"Yes, you! What was that all about? Those things you were saying?"

"I was saying?!"

"I can't believe that was—You don't really believe all that propaganda, do you?"

"Peter, he's the one who's got his head full of propaganda. Did you hear him? He was actually defending the Jews!"

Anna stared at the boy she once loved. He was no longer that boy.

"But Benny is Jewish."

"Yeah? And see what that music's done to Arvid? It's perverted his brain! Look at him!"

"What? I can't believe this. Arvid's right about you."

"Oh, you always take his side."

"I'm not taking his side."

"You always take his side! Whether he's right or wrong, you always take his side!"

"Well, he is right! Listen to yourself! You're turning into a freaking Nazi!"

"Oh, so what if I am?! Oh, that's right, I'm sorry. I forgot. Your father was a Jew lover too, wasn't he?"

At that remark, the two boys began fighting right on the street and Evey and Anna were forced to try to pry them apart.

They finally stopped and just stared at each other. Thomas scoffed and began to walk away. "Come on, Anna."

"No," Anna said softly.

Thomas halted and turned around. "What?"

"I don't even know you anymore. You…you yell at your friends, you defend people who aren't, you look for the bad in everyone, and you…you break your promises."

"What are you talking about? I haven't broken anything."

A tear traveled down Anna's cheek. "You broke your promise to me. You promised you wouldn't let joining the HJ change you. But you have."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, I do. I've never seen you fight with Peter like that, or yell at Arvid like that. Or talk to me with the tone you're using now. And you told me that you would never be like Emil, yet you just threatened to beat up the very same person he did. You're not the same person you were before." Anna finally admitted the fact that Thomas was different. "Maybe he'll come back. But he's not there now."

Anna ran off before anyone could say anything to her. Once far enough away, she allowed several tears to trickle down her face at the realization that the Thomas that was there tonight was not the one she had fallen for.

Anna decided to go see Arvid in the hopes that maybe she could talk to him and help him feel better, or sit with him and lament about the loss of the boy they once knew.

"Arvid?" she called as she walked into his apartment. "Hello?" It was eerily silent in his place. There could almost always be a record playing in the background or the sound of him playing his guitar. It made her uncomfortable. Something was wrong. "Arvid?" She noticed the bathroom door was ever so slightly ajar. Knocking on it lightly, she called again, "Arvid, are you in there?" There was no response so she slowly walked in…and found a sight no person, let alone a girl, should ever have to see. There was Arvid lying in the bathtub with blood flowing down from his wrist into a huge puddle on the floor where a bloody shard of a broken record rested.

Anna felt her stomach flop several times over and tried to back up, but ended up tripping and falling on the floor. She stayed there as her body wracked with sobs. She began screaming at the top of her lungs, but no one came to see why.

"Peter," she said in just barely a whisper.

Anna got up and ran as fast she could to Peter's apartment, screaming his name all along the way. Once there, she rapidly knocked on the door until Peter answered. She flung herself into his arms and began sobbing all over again.

"Anna!" Peter said urgently. "What's wrong?"

Anna's words were drowned out by her strangled sobs.

"Anna, Anna, look at me." Peter took her head in his hands and gently forced her to look at him. "Take a deep breath. What's wrong?"

"It's…it's Arvid," she choked out.

Peter's eyes widened as they both took off to Arvid's apartment. Anna refused to go into the bathroom again and could only watch as Peter laid eyes on the horrid scene before him. He slowly walked out and took Anna into his arms and they both sank down on to the ground in sobs.

Peter slowly stood up after a time and went over to Arvid's bed. There sat several notes, each addressed to a member of the group. There was not one for Thomas.

"Anna," Peter said softly. She stood up and went over to him. He gave her the letter while he opened his. "'Peter'," he read, "'I can't thank you enough for sticking up for me all the time. You may look like an HJ, but you never changed. You were the best friend I could ever ask for. But I can't sit by and watch the death and destruction around me. Because doing nothing is just as bad as doing the killing. So now, I'm leaving this place. Besides, Thomas was right. They were going to come after me, no doubt. I'll save them the trouble. Thanks for not being like the others. Arvid'."

Anna opened her letter with trembling fingers, tears still pouring down her cheeks. "'Anna, I know you loved Thomas, so I'm sorry for everything that's happened with him. Maybe you can be the one to bring him back. It sure isn't going to be me. Ever since I met you at the Bismarck, I saw a beauty in you that can never die. You're beautiful inside and out, no matter the circumstances. You are the sweetest thing I have ever met. Thanks for making my short life worth living. Never let that beauty die. Arvid'."

Peter and Anna began crying once more at Arvid's sweet words to both of them. They took the other two letters addressed to Otto and Helga and delivered them. In Otto's letter, Arvid thanked him for making such good music with him. In Helga's, he confessed that he always loved her since the second he met her.

It was a dark time for the once close-knit group. A dark time they weren't sure they could get out of.


	7. Thomas's Regrets

The funeral was a time full of despair. It was a beautiful service, but many, many tears were shed from all of those in attendance. Anna grasped onto Peter the entire time, and direly wondered where Thomas was. After the whole incident after what happened at the restaurant, she honestly wasn't surprised to not see him.

Peter put his arm around her shoulders while Otto put his arm around Helga. Anna continued crying as she let Peter hold her. Arvid had been so sweet to her pretty much the whole time she had known him, not to mention the beautiful words he had left her in his letter, and she was still in disbelief that he was gone.

"Amen," the preacher finished his prayer over the coffin.

When the crowd dispersed, Peter and Anna found that Thomas had been watching from a distance. The two boys looked at each other, and all Anna could see on Thomas's face was regret.

Thomas took a step towards Peter, but Peter left before anything happened.

"Anna," Thomas said quietly. "Look, I…"

Anna glared at him with tears still coming to her eyes. "You pushed him over the edge."

"It's not my fault he went and did this," Thomas said, though his tone suggested he was still trying to convince himself of that.

"When you spoke to him last, you said terrible things to him. He was hanging onto this life by a thread, and you broke that thread by what you said to him."

"Anna, I…"

Anna walked away before anything worse came out of his or her mouth.

* * *

Anna had been avoiding Thomas for quite a long time. Ever since Arvid's funeral, she couldn't bring herself to see him, afraid of what might come out of both of their mouths.

Peter noticed that she was receding back into her shell. The weight that they had all worked so hard to lift off her shoulders was gradually being put back on. She looked and felt sad and angry quite often and he knew she was heading right back to where she had started.

"Anna!" she heard. She turned to find Peter running towards her. "I need you to do something for me," he said as he caught his breath.

"What is it?"

"It's Thomas." At the mention of the boy's name, her eyes turned cold. "Just hear me out," Peter continued. "We had this talk last night at my house. It went south fast. You're right, he has changed. A lot. Do you think you could just…talk to him? Try to make him see sense?"

"Thomas has a hard head."

"Yeah, I know. But he'll be more willing to listen to you than any of us. Will you just try to get through to him?"

Anna blew a puff of air through her cheeks.

"Listen, I've had a rough night. Herr Knopp won't stop flirting with my mother and he acts as if my father meant nothing to all of our family. It's infuriating. Believe me, I would talk to Thomas if I could, but right now, I need to do things for the HJ. Please?"

"Fine," she agreed.

Sure enough, that night, Anna went to Thomas's house. She knocked on the door, and his mother answered.

"Hello, Anna!" she said with forced cheerfulness. Something had obviously happened to her. "It's been a while since we've seen you here. Come on in."

Anna stepped inside and his mother led her to the parlor. "I came to see Thomas. Is he here?"

"I figured you were. Yes, I'll go get him." She left Anna alone, and before long, Thomas came into the room.

"What are you doing here?" Thomas asked.

"I just wanted to talk," she answered.

"No, you don't. You're only here because Peter sent you here."

Anna scoffed. "So now we can't even talk like civilized human beings?" When he said nothing, she asked, "What's wrong with your mother?"

"The Gestapo came and took my father," Thomas answered without looking at her.

"Oh," Anna mumbled. "I'm…I'm sorry."

"I'm not."

Anna's head whipped over to him at his harsh words. "What?"

"He was putting down Hitler. It's people like him who are going to bring our country down. He needed to be stopped."

"Wait a second, did you…did you report him?"

"…Yes, I did."

Anna suddenly felt like she was going to fall over. She took a couple deep breaths and tried to continue, even though all she wanted was to just leave. "But he was your father."

"He never liked me. He always told everyone that he believed I would never amount to anything. He didn't like you either, you know that!"

"He's still your father. How could you report him?"

"Because I have a duty to the HJ!" he suddenly yelled at her, making her flinch. "You just wouldn't understand."

"Thomas…what—what's happened to you?"

"I finally realized where I belong and what I'm meant to do! I'm meant to get rid of all the Jews who are poisoning our country! You wouldn't know that, would you? After all, you're brother was a stupid Jew-lover and a _Verräter_!"

Anna gritted her teeth as she felt a rage build up inside her that she had never felt before. "My brother," she growled, "was better than all of the HJ, Gestapo, and Nazis combined. And as far as I'm concerned, you're no better than the people who killed him!"

And that's when Thomas did the unthinkable. He hit Anna firm on her cheek. She stumbled back in shock and tears began to form in her eyes. Thomas's eyes widened as he realized what he just did.

"Oh, jeez, Anna…"

"If you could go back to that night at the Bismarck when you met me…would you do anything differently?"

Thomas just looked at her, still horrified at what he had done to the girl he had feelings for. He tried to come up with words but failed.

"That's what I thought," she mumbled before taking off outside the door. Once outside, she leaned against the door to his apartment and sank down against it as several tears fell from her eyes. Her body shook as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened with Thomas.

On the other side of the door, Thomas sat in the same position, holding his head in his hands, willing himself to forget the past few minutes that had occurred.

* * *

With red eyes, Anna knocked on the door to Peter's apartment. Once again, the mother answered. "Anna," she said kindly, though Anna was glad to see she wasn't forcing cheerfulness like Thomas's mother had. One look at the girl in such a fragile state, and she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I need to see Peter," she sniffed.

"Okay, come on in." Once inside, she asked, "Can I get you anything? Maybe some tea?"

"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you."

She handed her a small cup and Anna slowly sipped from it.

"Peter!" his mother called. "Anna's here to see you!"

Peter quickly appeared at the sound of Anna's name. His mother walked away to give them some privacy.

"I take it that it didn't go well…" he mumbled.

Anna shook her head. Before she could say anything else, Peter noticed something on her cheek.

He went over to her and knelt down to look at it. "Is…is that a bruise? How'd this happen?"

"Thomas said terrible things about my brother. I got so angry and told him that he was no better than the people who killed him. And then he…he hit me."

"Anna, I'm so sorry. I'm the one who told you to see him. I should've known that he would use that against you. I'm going to kill him."

"Don't do anything rash, Peter," Anna said softly. "Last time we did that, you were forced to join the HJ."

Peter allowed himself a small laugh. "That wasn't one of our better ideas." He looked at her and noticed that she looked like she was going to fall apart. "Anna? I know you liked him, maybe even loved him, and he did too. This can't be easy for you."

She looked over at him and her eyes became glassy with tears. Without a word, Peter took her up in his arms and allowed her to release her pent-up feelings about losing who she loved.

* * *

"Thomas!" Peter shouted.

Thomas turned to find a very angry Peter storming towards him. Without any hesitation, Peter punched Thomas in the face.

"What was that for?" Thomas demanded.

"How does it feel?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Anna! All she did was come to talk to you and you hit her! You hit her!"

Thomas's face hardened. "I didn't mean to, honest. But she brought it on herself! She was defending the Jews and her Jew-loving brother!"

"Oh, so it's her fault that her brother fell in love with a Jew?! No matter what, he was still family to her and she loved him with everything she had! And now he's gone and she's never going to see him again! You know, when she told you about him, you held her while she cried. The next thing I hear, you're hitting her for talking about him!"

"We were taught to not hold back!"

"You promised her that you wouldn't beat people up! And now you're beating up the very person you made that promise to!"

"Just shut up, Peter! You don't understand anything about me and Anna! Nothing!"

Thomas bolted away before Peter could say anything more. That boy was not his best friend. That boy was an HJ.


	8. Confessions

"Anna! Anna!" Peter said urgently as he knocked on her door.

Anna opened the door to find Peter standing before her, looking quite haggard. "Peter?"

"Is anyone home?"

"No, Dad's out drowning his sorrows in drink again. It's just me. Um, come in." Peter entered through her doorway and they sat down together in the living room. "Is something wrong?"

"Anna, I've…I've done something terrible."

"…What is it?"

"I was assigned a special job by the head of the HJs. They told me to not answer any questions and just do as I was told. And that's exactly what I did. I went to the houses I was assigned and I gave them what they needed."

Anna's breath hitched in her throat as she realized what he was getting to.

"At the second house, a girl saluted me. She must've been only ten or eleven. And she's already dedicating her life to Hitler. The mother took what I gave her and I walked away. Her…her screams are still echoing in my head."

Tears formed in Anna's eyes. She could almost hear her own mother's screams as she received the awful box.

"I should've known, especially after what you told me. I decided to open the last box. Anna, what I saw inside was terrible, and it was then I realized just what has happened to Thomas and me. We've allowed ourselves to be tainted by the people we swore to never become. I just wanted to tell you that I'm…I'm so sorry…for turning into the person who delivered your brother to you."

A few tears slipped down her cheeks. Peter stood up to leave. "Peter, wait," she whispered, taking his arm and making him sit again. "I want you to listen to me. After my brother was killed and my mother passed away, I hated my life. I just wanted to die, but I couldn't do that to my father. So I just forced myself to live day after day in a monotonous routine that seemed never-ending. I only left my house to go to school. While there, I didn't talk to anyone or even look at anyone. I just paid attention and did my studies like I was supposed to.

"And then Elaine forced me to come to the Bismarck, and that's when I met Thomas. That was the first night in months where I felt like I had…well, purpose. It was even better when I met all of you. Peter, you've become the brother to me that I lost. You've filled that missing part of me that he left behind when he was killed. I mean, you were there when I needed someone to talk to, you let me vent and cry, and you were always watching out for me. And for that, I'll never be able to thank you enough."

Peter looked at her. He had never known that he had been such an important part of her life. "I'm so sorry for everything. For me, for Thomas, for Arvid, for not being there as much as I should've, for letting our group fall apart, for…just everything."

Anna walked up to him. "I accept your apology."

The two of them stood in the middle of the living room and shared a tight and tearful embrace, one they did not release from for a very, very long time.

* * *

After the complete hell that surrounded them for the past few weeks, Peter offered to take Anna out dancing, something neither of them had done since they had had to escape from the Trichter.

When he came to pick her up, she smiled at him. "You're back to your old self," she said.

"So are you," he smiled back as he noticed he was wearing her usual dancing dress.

They walked together to go to the Bismarck and when they walked in, it was a sorry sight. There were hardly any couples on the dance floor and the slowest song Anna had ever heard was playing.

Peter took her hand and led her to the middle of the floor. They started doing a slow version of a swing dance together, unlike the boring dancing around them. The band seemed to notice Peter and Anna's dance and began to speed up and get a swingier beat. The singer's voice became bolder as more couples came out onto the floor to join them in the swing. Peter and Anna went all out. They both started dripping sweat but neither of them cared. They felt like it was making up for all the missed opportunities over the course of the last few weeks.

For the first time in quite a while, Anna found herself laughing as they danced together.

Their happy moment was abruptly stopped as HJs and other officers flooded through the doorways and began beating up every dancer in sight. One of them grabbed Anna, but Peter punched him away and put his arm around her protectively.

Then Anna met eyes with the one person she never believed she would ever see: Thomas. He was with all the other HJs, beating up everyone in sight, an act he had told her he would never do and yet there he was. She made no attempt to hold back the tears that formed as their eyes met. Another officer grabbed Peter, but Peter shook him off.

Thomas walked over to the two of them.

"Thomas," Peter said.

Without warning, Thomas took his stick and tried to beat him up.

"Thomas!" Anna screamed.

"Anna, run!" Peter yelled at her. "Get out of here now!"

Anna turned and ran out of the nearest door and it didn't take long for Peter and Thomas to come crashing out behind her and flip over the red car. Thomas hit Peter on the face with his stick and then pushed him onto the car where he proceeded to choke him with his stick.

"Thomas!" Anna screamed trying to pull him off. "Thomas, stop! He's your friend!"

For a split second, Thomas looked over at her, and Anna had never seen his eyes look at her that way the entire time she had known him. But then, it was almost like he became lucid, and he slowly took the stick away from Peter's throat. All three of them fell against the side of the car as Peter coughed and gasped for breath.

"Go on. Get out of here," Thomas said, shaking from all of the emotions he was feeling.

"You said they'd never split us apart," Peter said with blood trailing down his face.

"Peter, please!" They watched as the HJs captured person after person on the streets. "Go! Go on!"

"And then what? HJ by day, swing kid by night?"

"You don't understand. They'll send you to a work camp! They won't let it go this time!"

"It doesn't matter. I know who my friends are. I'm not alone."

"Hey, there's a couple over there!" someone yelled out. Peter quickly gave Anna a small kiss on the cheek for reassurance for the both of them. HJs ran over to them and grabbed Peter. Thomas roughly grabbed Anna by the arms. She looked at him with wide eyes. After everything that happened, he was going to be the one to turn her in and send her off to a work camp?

"You're not a murderer, Thomas," Peter said. "You're not like them."

"Come on, swing kid," one of the HJs said. "You got that one?" he asked Thomas.

Thomas just nodded his head without a word.

The two HJs left with Peter in tow. Thomas turned to Anna and released her. "Get out of here."

"What?"

"Just go. Please, before they get you."

Anna looked at him in shock. He was trying to save her? "Thomas, I…"

He looked away from her and watched Peter get taken away. He watched as Herr Knopp talked to him with a look of disgust on his face. He watched as Peter sang 'It Don't Mean A Thing' as they took him away. He watched Peter's face as they met eyes. He watched the smile that formed when he was loaded into the wagon.

"Peter!" Thomas called. He saluted his best friend. "Swing Heil!"

Peter stood up in the wagon. "Swing Heil!"

He continued watching as Willi ran after the truck as far as he could before shouting 'Swing Heil' over and over again.

"Thomas…" he heard.

He turned around to find Anna holding her stomach. When she moved her hands, he saw a gaping hole that was pouring blood.

"ANNA!" Thomas screamed. He caught her as she sank down to the ground, holding her wound. "Dang it, Anna, I told you to get out of here!"

"I…I couldn't," she gasped.

"Why not?"

"Because Thomas Berger, even though you have been a complete _schwachkopf _lately, I still love you. I'll always love you."

Thomas's heart nearly stopped. It was the first time either of them had ever said those three magic words to the other. But why did she have to wait until now? He knew the answer to that already. He hadn't given her the chance. He'd pushed her away, and it was his own fault that he had never heard those sweet words. And now he would never hear them again after tonight. How could this have happened? "Say it again." If he couldn't hear her say them for days to come, he would hear her say it now.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Anna Hensley," he whispered as he held the dying girl in his arms.

Anna smiled. "There's that boy who asked that shy little girl to dance. I knew he was in there somewhere."

Tears formed in Thomas's eyes as he watched the light slowly begin to leave her own gorgeous eyes. "He said I was going to 'wise up'."

"What?"

"That day I fought Emil, he said he 'wised up' and that I would too, but I didn't listen to him. Turns out he was right. I 'wised up' in all the wrong ways. Anna, I'm so sorry for everything I've done. I'm sorry about Arvid, I'm sorry for what I said about your brother, I'm sorry about letting what we had fall apart, I'm sorry for breaking my promise, I'm sorry for not being there for you, and…I'm sorry for letting this happen."

Tears streamed down Anna's cheeks at the utter pain she was experiencing from the stab wound an HJ had left her with.

"Please, Anna, just hang on."

Anna gasped as a wave of pain hit her sharply. "P-Peter?"

"Going to a work camp. But he's alive. And he's a fighter so he's going to stay alive. I promise. And I'm not breaking this one."

Anna gasped again. "It hurts…It hurts so much…"

"Just hold on. Please, Anna."

"Thomas…Swing Heil."

"…Swing Heil," Thomas said quietly.

Anna's bloody hand went up to touch his cheek, tainting his white skin with her crimson blood, but he didn't care. She leaned her head up and placed her lips on his in their first, and last, kiss. Thomas kissed her back with everything he had, making every millisecond count. Suddenly, she went limp in his arms and the kiss was no longer being returned.

"No…no, Anna, please! I'm so sorry!" Thomas sobbed like he never had before or would again as he held Anna close to him and cried over her lifeless body. He let his fingers intertwine in her beautiful soft hair and supported her head as it rested on his chest with his head pressed firmly against her, tears falling into her hair. "Swing Heil," he whispered to her as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

Thomas knew Anna always hated the Nazis, especially after her brother had been killed. And yet she still loved him after he had said and done terrible things, things he regretted then more than ever before. He angrily ripped off his Nazi badge that had defined him and allowed him to ruin his relationship with the beautiful girl he loved. From that moment forward, he promised to honor Anna's memory, no matter what it cost him. And he did not intend on breaking that promise for as long as he lived. He swore this on the life she had lived, however short it had been.

He leaned over her, willing her to come back to him. "I love you, Anna Hensley. Now and forever."


End file.
